According to a research from IPG’s Universal McCann and AOL 95 percent of all mobile users said they used mobile media to fill downtime; 82 percent said they used it at work; 81 percent while shopping; 80 percent at home; and 65 percent while commuting to their jobs. It’s finally happened! Our smartphones and notebooks have become personal living tools that we evidently cannot do without. According to a survey by TVNewsCheck.com more than half of us are eager for mobile TV. Remember Virgin’s Mobile TV service which was heavily promoted by Pamela Anderson? Although it attracted close to 10,000 subscribers it failed. Maybe because in the minds of consumers, as a brand extension, it seemed inconsistent to the Virgin brand. Today, consumer perception have undoubtably changed regarding mobile TV. Nearly half of U.S. consumers are ready to watch live broadcast TV via a mobile service, according to a survey of 1,000 consumers by Magid Media Labs on behalf of Open Mobile Video Coalition.
Of course, after reading the article and closely examining the numbers, the thought which immediately came to mind was – this cannot be true! The article is simply a PR stunt to generate publicity for OMVC, because any savvy marketer would know that buyer intent does not always translate into buyer behavior. So, with this in mind I sat out to conduct my own “mini” research. Here is what I discovered.
The proliferation of smartphones, specifically, the iPhone with its more sophisticated screen, has indeed caused a mobile TV resurgence. While it is true that more of us are spending less and less of time watching live TV, there is an increase in the number of programmes that are being transferred onto smartphones to be viewed while users are on the move. Tech gadgets such as, Slingbox’s technology – which delivers subcribers home television services to smartphones, is making this transfer possible. Recently, UK cable station Sky Sports News launched a mobile TV services targeting iPhone users. Although the service is only available on wi-fi, it has attracted nearly 250,000 subscribers and reported two million downloads of its free Sky applications.
For those of us looking for a compelling user experience delivered over 3g, look no farther than TVCatchup, that actually offers main tv channels live to a computer or iPhone.
Similar to the laptop which has become a personal must-have living tool, mobile media devices are starting to tailgate that trend, not to mention, rapidly changing the way we communicate and consume media. And with that, our appetite for live television on the go is steadily increasing, particularly among young adult Millennials (ages 18-29), who incidentally will be among the early Mobile DTV adopters.
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